Best mud for a refugium

[Rickyrooz1]

I have a 30g refugium connected to a 120g mixed reef tank which has been running for a year. I have 20 lbs. of Miracle Mud and Chaetomorpha algae with some live rock in the fuge. I heard that Miracle Mud contains more than just mud and some trace elements and will release these contaminants into the water if it is not changed yearly. Can anyone give me more background about this product?

 

[JaredWaites]

Well according to their website (http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/miracle_application.html

It says the following

To continue successful maintenance of your marine aquarium system, it is recommended that you add or exchange an appropriate amount of Miracle Mud@ (50%) every two years. To ensure that this replacement process will not disturb your aquarium inhabitants, the usage of an add-on filter is highly recommended. *For existing system - Addition of Ecosystem Filter provides benefits. Smooth transition is recommended to prevent shock to fish and corals.

I know plenty of people running Miracle Mud, and haven't changed it in years and haven't seen any issues.

Inland Reef did a breakdown of the chemical compositions with Spectrometry, here is the link for that.

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/mm_analysis.html

Here is another quote from Matt at inland aquatics.

We have examined it under high magnification and we believe it is simply dirt. We were unable to find any shell fragments, oolitic sand grains, or any other evidence that it was ever anywhere near an ocean. We found small chunks of quartz, other pebbles, humus, and small plant/root fragments. It is indistinguishable from backyard dirt.

Keep in mind that EcoSystems claims it is ocean mud dried through a "special process". Some others we have spoken to have found twigs and rodent droppings in it.

We also spent quite a while discussing this with the EcoSystems reps (Sy Leng and one of his sales people) at a recent trade show. They were unable to make any convincing, sound, scientific arguements about the product. One of their claims is that no trace element supplementation is needed, then as we left they gave us some product samples. When we looked at them later, Tom had a good laugh - they were trace element supplements.

Apparently Wonder Mud from IPSF, is the way to go, the IPSF product is a live, wet mud - basically a silt-heavy version of live sand, whereas the EcoSystems product is a jar of dirt. , according to Matt.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Thanks for the information!

 

[chrissreef]

we put it in a display fuge and it looked like dirt. After 2 hrs of no current I scooped up all the twigs/grass clippings (or whatever they were) off the surface. I think there was even a leaf!

i was going to have it in my tank - but i'm think twice now.